6 months ago
By William M. Welch, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES - Two firefighters died in a wildfire Sunday in the San Gabriel Mountains that threatened more than 10,000 homes and the century-old Mount Wilson Observatory.
Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief Mike Bryant said the two firefighters died in the Angeles National Forest when their vehicle went off the road and over a hillside amid intense flames. He did not release their identities.
"This is a very difficult time," he said.
The blaze, which has burned 42,500 acres in four days, was only 5% contained and its southern edge was just 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles, the U.S. Forest Service said.
The fire is being fueled by triple-digit temperatures and an abundance of dry shrubs and trees in a wilderness that hasn't burned for 40 years.
"It is ... spreading in all directions," said Bruce Quintelier, U.S. Forest Service fire information officer.
The fire forced closure of the Angeles Crest Highway, a 67-mile road that reaches altitudes of more than 7,000 feet. The service did not know how the fire started.
Expensive mountainside homes in La Cañada Flintridge and other spots along Los Angeles' Foothill Freeway were in the fire's path.
On Sunday, it was threatening the city of Acton in the Apple Valley, a high-desert area at the northern perimeter of the Angeles National Forest. The fire command center said at least three homes burned and it expected more destruction.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the fire Sunday and urged residents to move quickly when ordered out by firefighters.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reported two people were severely burned and evacuated by county helicopter after resisting orders to leave. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said the pair "totally underestimated the fire."
"They ran and jumped into a hot tub thinking the water would provide some kind of relief," he said.
The historic Mount Wilson Observatory, founded in 1904, was in danger. Director Hal McAlister reported on the observatory's website that more than 150 firefighters and 15 firetrucks were fighting to protect the facility.
Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Mark Savage told KABC-TV that the fires burning on Mount Wilson could also reach transmitters for every major television and radio station in the area.
The fire is one of several that blew up last week when a heat wave and low humidity made conditions ideal for fires. A fire just to the east, also in the Angeles National Forest, burned 2,100 acres.
A dozen or more of the residents took refuge at the Eagles Club Lodge in Azusa - which provided food, showers and tents - after they said their menagerie of pet dogs, cats, birds, rabbits and hamsters were turned away from a Red Cross shelter.
"The Eagles are saving us, man," said Jack Wagstaff, an engineer.
